Switch stand



Feb. 7, 1939. A, A. ADAMS ET AL 2,

SWITCH STAND I Filed Feb. 7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV NTORS ATTORNEY I :;M@ M. I M

Feb. 7, 1939. A. A. ADAMS ET AL v I 2,146,666

SWITCH STAND Filed Feb. 7, v 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v I NVENTORS ATT ORNEY Patented Feb. 7, 1939 PATENT OFFICE swlrcn STAND Arthur A. Adams, Brookline, and Robert G. Morse, Marblehead, Mass.

Application February 7, 1636, Serial No. 62,786

3 Claims. (01. 246-414) This invention relates to improvements in switch stands, and more particularly to means for lockingthe operating lever of such stands against unauthorized movement.

5 The invention has for one of its objects to provide a switch stand which may be installed for operati'onby a lever and'locked, as is common at the'present' time, by means of a padlock, and which, as installed, is readily convertible to a 10 stand in which the operating lever isunder control of a built-in locking mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple, inexpensive, durable and reliably operative means for securing the operating lever of a switch stand in definite station positions against unauthorized movement.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a simple and sturdy detent for movement into andout of a position behind the'operating g lever near its pivot end and to so associate the detent with its supporting means that substantially no strain can be placed upon the supporting means when an attempt is made to operate the lever without first moving the detent from its position behind the lever.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide an extremely compact key-controlled locking mechanism which may be quickly and conveniently applied to a switch stand with a 39 minimum of expense and which may be made and sold as standard equipment on the stand or may be applied in the field without necessitating any drilling operations or the use of any special tools.

35 The invention consists in so forming the turntable housing which pivotally supports theoperating lever or handle that a lock unit may be applied by hooking it over ribs or flanges on the housing and securing it in position with the 40 same bolt that is used as a pivot bolt for the operating handle, or one slightly longer. This lock unit has a detent reciprocatable by an eccentric or cam mounted on a pin in the casing of the lock unit. The eccentric is rotatable on the supporting pin by a crank which in turn is rotated by the movement of a key inserted within a barrel containing the lock parts, which barrel is secured in a forward wall of the unit casing. The detent is provided with a yoke within which the eccentric is positioned to act against opposite end faces, and the yoke rides loosely on a hub of the eccentric or cam to the end that when the operating handle is moved against the nose of the detent the latter is entirely backed by a \5 face of the housing which resists all the strains of attempted operation of the operating handle and no strain is transmitted to any pivot pin or any part of the supporting means or any part of the lock. The arrangement of the parts is such that the plane in which the key is inserted 6 to and withdrawn from the lock is parallel to the plane-in which the operating handle moves and the location of the keyhole is adjacent the upper part of the operating lever. 'In the accompanying drawings:

Figure -1 is a fragmentary View of a well known fRamapo vertical switch stand shown withits turntable housing especially constructed for the reception of the improved locking unit.

Figure 2 is a view in end elevation of a locking l5 unitadapted to be fitted over the turntable housing'shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the locking unit shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a view in front elevation of the looking unit shown in Figures 2 and 3. The unit is shown applied to the turntable housing of the switch stand.

' Figure 5 is a view corresponding to Figure 4 but with the upper parts of the housing and looking unit in section substantially along the I line 55 of Figure 7.

Figure 6 is a view in cross-section taken along theline 6-6 of Figure'5.

Figure 7 is a View in cross-section taken along the line T1 of Figure 6.

Figures 8, 9' and 10' are views of the crankoperating key-controlled mechanism.

'Referringnow more particularly to the drawings, whereinsimilar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the'several views, a switch stand pedestal is shown at 20. The pedestal has its upper part flanged at 2| and supports a rotatable member or turntable 22, which is a casting having a housing portion 23 for enclos- 'ing the upper end 24' of a switch-operating lever '25 which has a handle 26. The casting has also a squared recess 2? vertically extending there- 'throughand receiving a square-faced operating spindle 23 formed on the upper end of a shaft 5 "'30, the lower end of which is connected by a suitable crank 36 to a bar 32 suitably connected to the movable rail of the switch (not shown) I The flange 2! of the pedestal is provided with peripheral notches preferably 90 degrees apart, one of which is shown at 33. The spindle 28 is located in position vertically with respect to the turntable 22 by a bolt 34.- 'Ihe turnable casting is apertured at one side as indicated at 40 and is flanged in substantially inverted U shape, as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, by parallel vertical ribs ll and 42 joined by a short horizontal rib 43 and a slightly inclined rib M. The ribs 43 and 44 project above the plane of the upper surface of the main body of the casting and provide means over which reversely directed flanges or ribs 45 of a lock unit 46 may be fitted as clearly shown in Figure 5 of the drawings. A bolt 47 (Figure 1) provides the pivotal mounting for the lever 25, and upon removal of this bolt a face 48 of the lock unit may be fitted against the housing 23 so that the lock unit covers the aperture 40 in the housing. Thus, the lock unit is suspended and supported in proper position with an arm 50 against the housing having a bolt hole 5| alined with the bolt hole in the housing. Either the same bolt Q1 or one 52, slightly longer, may be inserted and secured by a nut 53. Front and rear walls 54; and 55 respectively of the lock unit fit outside and adjacent the vertical ribs 45 and Q2 respectively, and at its lower part the lock unit by its face 18 abuts an unribbed face of the turntable housing. The ribbing on the turntable'housing serves as a water shed and the lock unit is so fitted with the housing that the assembly is substantially proof against the entry of Water.

To manipulate the switch rail connected to the stand, the handle 26 is grasped and the operating lever 25 is moved from the down position shown in Figure 1 around the pivot bolt 47 until the operating lever is in a substantially horizontal position clear of the notch 33 in the flange 2! of the pedestal. Then the operator, by arcuate movement of the lever, rotates the turntable preferably 90 degrees to bring it over another notch 33 in the flange and drops it into the notch to locate the switch parts.

It has been found essential to good railroad practice that the operating lever should be locked in its station position when the attendant leaves the switch stand, and, although built-in locks are used to some extent on this general type of switch stand, the more common practice in the past has been to form the upper part of the operating lever with an eye such as indicated in Figure 1 at 6G and to close a padlock through this eye where the same projects through a slot 62 (Figure 4) in the turntable housing. These padlocks are readily lost or destroyed through the carelessness of the operators and the stand then becomes a menace to the safety and lives of passengers on the railroad. Accidents frequently occur because of failure to leave the switch stand locked and the movement of same out of proper position by unauthorized persons. Furthermore, this antiquated style of locking is not taken seriously by the railroad employees, and if a stand is without its padlock little effort is made to correct the situation. Still further, the expense to the railroads for replacement of lost padlocks or renewal of broken padlocks runs into many thousands of dollars annually.

By the present invention switch stands may be sold to the railroad in substantially conventional form with the padlock for securing the operating lever in its down position and a blank coverplate (not shown) may be positioned over the aperture 30 and held by the pivot bolt 47. Such cover-plate may be suitably ribbed to correspond with the ribs on the lock unit and thus it may be fitted and supported on the turntable housing in the same manner as the lock unit. If the railroad later decides that certain of its switch stands require the built-in lock rather than the padlock, the lock unit of the present invention may be supplied and installed in the field, at which time the cover-plate is removed and discarded. It will also be observed that the invention in certain of its aspects contemplates a lock unit housing which is integral with the turntable housing although in the main the present idea is a separately produced and attachable lock unit to be fitted to the turn table housing and by which the operating lever may be directly opposed by a detent near its pivot point,

without imposing any strain whatever upon pivot pins, crank pins, or any part of the mechanism containedrwithin the barrel of the lock.

To the accomplishment of the last said aim, a. detent member 85 is arranged within the housing of the lock unit 46 and has a nose 6B and an operating yoke 67 comprising parallel longitudinal rails 68 connecting end members 69 and 70. This detent is preferably one casting shaped as clearly shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7 of the drawings. The nose 6% of the detent has a lower curved face ii adapted to ride on a horizontal ledge 12 cast in the lock unit housing. Within the end members 69 and 70 of the operating yoke 61 is an eccentric 75 mounted on a pin 16 having a reduced end 17 penetrating the rear wall 55 of the lock unit housing. The pin 76 may be supported in position by merely heading over the outer end of. the reduced portion 77. In making the assembly the hub 78 of the eccentric 15 is slipped over the pin 78 until it abuts the head 80 of the pin. The yoke of the detent is then fitted over the pin and the hub 18 and the end 77 ofthe pin is fitted into the wall 55 and headed over. The rearface of detent nose 66 is slightly concave as indicated by the dotted line 8! in Figure 7 and this face is adapted for movement against a plane face 82 of the turntable housing. The forward face of the detent nose 65 is slightly convexed as indicated at 83 in Figure, 7 so that any movement of the operating lever when the detent is in the locking position will cause substantially direct lateral movement of the detent to bring the upper and lower rear edges of the nose 66 against the plane face 82 with a minimum of irregularity in the movement of the detent. In no case can there be an amount of variance in movement that throws any strain upon the supporting pin '16, inasmuch as that pin and its hub 78 are amply spaced from the parallel rails 68 of the yoke 61.

In the forward wall of the lock unit casing there is formed by a forwardly extending cast flange 98 a recess for the reception of a lock mechanism barrel 9!. The forward face 92 of the barrel 9! has pivoted th reon a springpressed guard $3 covering a keyhole $4, and this barrel and its contained mechanism is similar in other respects to the one shown in the patent to Adams 1,779,266 dated October 21, 1930. The guard is provided with a key conforming face Q5 against which the key may be pressed to pivotally move the guardinto position to permit the insertion of the key to the keyhole 94. The key-operative mechanism comprises a crank 96 having a crank-pin 97 which latter engage the eccentric F5 in a hole 98 in a forward facethereof. Thus it will be seen that by movement of the crank 96 in a clockwise direction the eccentric will be moved similarly around the pin 16, moving the detent from the position shown in Figures 5 and 7 to a position to the right thereof in which the nose of the detent is withdrawn out of line with the pivotal movement of the operating lever. Thus the operating lever is unlocked and the handle may be raised to horizontal position and the turntable swung freely.

The operating key is indicated in Figure 10 at 99. It has a tang I00 and a hollow stem IOI which fits over a reduced end I02 of an arbor I03 the other end of which is formed with the crank 98. When the key is rotated the tang I00 contacts an end I04 of a flange I05 on the arbor. Continued rotation of the key carries with it the flange, the arbor and the crank 96,'after first releasing a locking lug I01 on a dog I08 pivoted at I09 on a web IIO secured within the barrel 92 by a screw III. This web also provides a hub I I2 centrally journaling the arbor I03 within the barrel. After the locking lug I01 has been lifted by the tang of the key from a notched disk H5 integral with the arbor I03, the notched disk turns with the arbor and the key-tang rides into the open space provided by the crescent shape of the pivoted dog I08 allowing the lug I0! to be forced by a spring IIB onto the edge of the disk H5 and eventually into an opposed notch iii in the disk. This limits the movement of the key in a clockwise direction. Extremes of movement of the arbor are also defined by lugs 520 which contact with the pin I09. The locking lug I01 and the lugs I20 prevent rotation of the key through a full 360 degrees of movement, and it is impossible to Withdraw the key until the tang is returned to a position of alinement with the key slot. This position can only be obtained by a reverse movement of. the key, that is, a counterclockwise movement which is bound to restore the detent to its locking position. It will be noted from an inspection of Figure 1 that return of the detent to locking position is not permissible in any other position of the operating lever except its down position in which it is engaged with one of the notches 33 in the flanges 2I. This is for the reason that the upper part of the operating lever lies in the path of movement of the detent except when in its straight up-and-down position. Thus, it will be seen that after the key is inserted to the lock mechanism and rotated clockwise to withdraw the detent it cannot be continued in its clockwise movement to the point where it can be withdrawn from the lock. Neither can it be returned in counterclockwise direction while the operating lever is up; therefore, the operator may not withdraw his key until he has completed the operation of setting the switch and returning the lever into the notch at either the open or closed position of the switch.

The barrel 92 is secured in position within the lock unit housing by a screw I25.

What we claim is:

1. An attachment for a switch' stand, comprising a housing having an opening in the front thereof fitted with a lock barrel, said housing having top and rear walls which with the front define an open side, said top wall having a marginal lipbeyond said open side to hook over a rib on a part of the stand, an arm extending from said housing having a bolt hole positioned to receive the pivot bolt of the switch-stand lever to hold the housing in hooked position on the stand, a pin extending inwardly from the rear wall of the housing, a cam rotatable on said pin, a yoke loosely supported by said pin and actuated by said cam, a detent nose movable with said yoke as the latter is moved by said cam, and a key operated crank mounted in the lock barrel and engaged with said cam to rotate same.

2. A lever locking attachment for a switch stand including a turntable housing supporting a pivot bolt for the lever thereof and having a back Wall and a side opening with external flanges around said opening, said attachment comprising a casing presenting one open side to abut the side of the turntable housing around its opening and beyond its side flanges, said casing having at the top of its open side a depending lip overlying the top flange of the housing and an angularly depending arm at said open side provided with an aperture positioned to receive the pivot bolt of. the turntable lever, a detentwithin said casing, shiftable through the side opening of the turntable housing and beween the lever and said back Wall, and key-operated means for shifting said detent into and out of efiective position.

3. A lever locking attachment for a switch stand including a turntable housing supporting a pivot bolt for the lever thereof and having a back wall and a side opening with external flanges around said opening, said attachment comprising a casing presenting one open side to abut the side of. the turntable housing around its opening and beyond its side flanges, said casing having at the top of its open side a depending lip overlying the topflange of the housing and an angularly depending arm at said open side provided with an aperture positioned to receive the pivot bolt of the turntable lever, a detent within said casing, shiftable through the side opening of the turntable housing and beween the lever and said back wall, and keycperated means for shifting said detent into and out of eifective position and at the same time permitting lateral movement of the detent in a direction toward and away from the back wall of the housing.

ARTHUR A. ADAMS. ROBERT G. MORSE. 

